A WOMAN AT THE WHEEL

Greymouth Evening Star, 24 March 1922, Page 5

A WOMAN AT THE WHEEL

■ — ——rtggua CROSSING THE GREY BAR. d ' CAPTAIN’S WIFE A HEROINE LI i A little wisp of an Irishwoman she was, with a lilt of the brogue on her tongue. Brown-haired and grey-eyed, with a thin, pale face, she looked quite frail, yet 1 she brought the schooner Clyde over the Greymouth bar in one of L the greatest seas that ever rolled r in from the Tasman. The arrival of the barque White ’ Pine at Greymouth recalls an exciting incident of 1894, the details of which the ‘‘Star” now unfolds for its readL ers. The topsail-schooner Clyde was 5 of 85 tons register. She was a staunch craft having been built of Australian hardwood at Clarence River in the 'sixties. The master, John Gibbons, ■ was an Irishman and had been in command of deep-water ships. Tiring of long voyages, however, he acquired the ownership of the Clyde and settled down in the coasting trade. It was a drizzling morning in February, 1894, that the Clyde, with a cargo of flour, left Lyttelton for Greymouth, via Cook Strait. When nine days out the Clyde was within measurable distance of Greymouth. and would soon have been safely berthed at the wharf had not a heavy gale set in. As the day wore on the eale increased in fury. The top gallant sail and the fore-topsail were in ribbons, and the jib had blown away. Every rope and shroud vibrated like a harp-string. About four o’clock the weather was so bad that Captain Gibbons decided to heave-fo. The stars mustered and night fell. The ClvT rode like a cork on the water and the stinging spray flew over her mast heads. One mountainous wave lifted the schooner higher than over: (lien, as if the bottom of the ocean had fallen out, over to starboard she went and down, down, down. The cabin doors

j flew open, and a great mass of water } rushed below. The cabin lamp wont I out with a smash of shattering glass. 5 The ballast had shifted and the Clyde was on her beam ends' Then the ; Captain's voice was heard: “Oh. God! .Annie, she's done for! Bring them o:i deck!” j The Captain’s wife was clinging at ] “ ’.lie weather side of a cabin table. She was in her nightdress, and two childr- n clung to her, screaming. Her face war, pale, hut its calmness put heart into [ the ytlicrs and looking up through an - open scuttle she could catch a glimps.- ' ■d’ the sickly moon. In a second th/ clouds closed over. “AA'c 11 stay down here and j>ray for ns all” she called ! to her husband, who. gaunt, rugged ' man, though he was, beeam ■ for a mo- ' meat unnerved and sent up a despair : ing cry. 'They were at the mercy <f 1 terror-ridden seas, and any monnnt ' his fortune ami all that was dear ! to him might be hurled into eternity. Ihe wind shrieked and howled, d rum > the cabin aft came the occasional l scream of a frightened child, and Hit. i mother paused in her prayirs to soothe ' and comfort. .Suddenly water poured down the i fo’c’sle scuttle. Someone cried out, I “She’s gone!” The chiklren screamed i iri U linv.-v 1....... I. .. .. « i

m terror. Iherc might have been a panic had not an old sailor growled. “Gone be hanged! Get a light somebody.” After many hours’ work, the (,'lydc was got into a seaworthy condition again, and thoroughly straighten - ed. But an accident hapjiened to the captain and the bar had to be crossed. Every man had a place to watch and tho woman, Airs Gibbons, stepped forward to take her place tit the wheel. She stood near as the lashings wore cut from the wheel. AVith. one hand she held a- shroud and with, the other site hold Iter shawl at her throat. In spite of its restraining folds, sonic strands of her brown hair streamed like pennons io the breeze. As the schooner ran towards the bar tho water gradually changed colour irom to yellow. The bar heaved mil eddied and frothed. The roar of the surf sounded in their cars. Aft at the wheel was the Captain's wife tucked into the waistband. Tlie waves curled over their heads, curled without a break. They lifted the Clyde high in the air, rolled over her and Hooded the deck. The wheel responded to the woman’s arm. The waves slowly lost their bite and venom. I h'-y were still bi.g and dangerous, bur every minute l they were growing smaller. At last the Clyde was over the bar; she was through the entrance, staggering, reeling and half-blind, but came to the end. Ahead loomed the wharf, crowded with people. The crowd cheered and their cheering increased to thunder when they saw, Hi her hand still on the wheel, the Captain’s wife.